


safe to touch

by dare121



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Argo City (DCU), F/F, Krypton, Secret Kalex Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 01:00:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21878683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dare121/pseuds/dare121
Summary: Alex and Kara visit Argo City together. Alura has a surprise for Kara.Secrets are revealed.
Relationships: Alex Danvers/Kara Danvers
Comments: 11
Kudos: 245
Collections: Secret Kalex Santa 2019





	safe to touch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [StarvingLunatic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarvingLunatic/gifts).



> happy holidays, everybody!
> 
> this fanfic is for StarvingLunatic, who i hope will enjoy this one!
> 
> may 2020 be a better year for us all!
> 
> ((by the by, i stopped watchig the show around mid-season 2, so anything you find here is merely from context clues i've seen online and my own ideas of what things might be like in Argo / with Alura))

Argo was different than Alex expected and yet exactly as Kara had described it. It was like her human imagination simply had no way to grasp the nuances Kara had talked about without seeing them firsthand. 

"Do you think these are safe for me to touch?" Alex asked as she took a step towards the big red flowers that were all around them in this patch of the garden. They glowed beautifully in the light of Argo's replicated red sun. 

Taking a step closer, Kara cupped Alex's left hand with both of hers and drew it up to one of the big petals. 

"Nothing here will hurt you," Kara said softly, guiding Alex's fingers until they made contact. "My mother's garden was designed to bring peace to all who witness it." The petal moved further into Alex's tentative touch, causing a small gasp of pleasure to escape her mouth. "And to all those who reside here."

With a soft smile, Alex stroked her fingers along the big, gentle surface.

"Simply incredible," she said, allowing a few vines to slowly curl up around her wrist and along her forearm. "Something like this would never survive on Earth."

With a shrug, Kara drew back her own hands so she could curl one around Alex's shoulders instead. Her white robe rustled along the grassy dirt underneath their feet, causing Alex some distraction. Seeing Kara in the traditional garbs of her people was still strangely soothing and exciting in equal measure. 

"I think they would give humans a run for their money, to be honest," Kara replied, vaguely gesturing at the vines now crawling up Alex's arm in search of more friendly contact. She leaned her cheek against Alex's head and closed her eyes. "I'm so glad you finally got to go with me."

Lifting up her right hand to take over petting duties, Alex softly pulled back her left from the flower so she could wrap her arm around Kara's waist.

"Me, too," she agreed softly, squeezing Kara's side and once more startled by how easy it was to press down on her skin here. How malleable and  _ human _ she was in this place. Or, indeed, how truly Kryptonian.

They stayed together for a while longer, enjoying each other's proximity and the rustling of leaves and vines as the red flowers almost seemed to dance around them.

Turning her face a little to the side, Kara closed her eyes and buried her nose in Alex's hair, drawing in her scent. Under this replicated red sun, she couldn't always find Alex's heartbeat whenever she wanted, so she had to make do with other methods of soothing herself.

"My mother has a surprise for me," Kara murmured, before wrapping her other arm around Alex's front so she had her clasped in a loose hug. "I'm a little apprehensive."

Slowly drawing back entirely from the red flower so she could give her full attention, Alex placed the fingers of her right hand on Kara’s wrist. 

“Did she give you any hints what she was talking about?” She held Kara just a little closer, feeling for the first time like her regular human body could actually be used to shield Kara from harm, should there be any trouble. 

Kara let out a noise in the negative.

"All she said was that it would make me very happy." She gave off a dramatic sigh. "That's really what worries me about it."

Humming soothingly, Alex rubbed her thumb along Kara's wrist. 

"Do you think she expects you to stay here?" Then, after a moment, she swallowed down her own worries. "Do you want to stay here?"

Slowly, they moved apart, and Alex gave herself over to letting her eyes sweep the garden again. There was a multitude of fascinating flora on display, not to mention the architecture in the distance, but none of those sights managed to draw her mind away from the terrifying thought that Kara might not want to come home to her again. 

“I honestly don’t know,” Kara admitted quietly, turning away from Alex and taking a few steps closer to one of the fountains that were placed around the garden. “I think I have an obligation to go back to Earth, but… this is home, too.” She drew her fingers through the flowing water. “I’ve dreamed of this so many times.”

“I know,” Alex said, trying to sound reassuring. “If this is where you want to be, I don’t think you should feel guilty for not wanting to come back to National City.” She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jeans so her clenched fists wouldn’t be visible. “I’m sure Earth would miss you, but it’ll survive.”

With a sigh, Kara took a seat on the edge of the fountain.

“I don’t know if I will,” she said, turning her sad eyes onto Alex again. “Without you.”

Looking down at the grassy ground, Alex lifted one shoulder in a shrug. 

“I would visit,” she offered, unsure what Kara wanted to hear. There was no way Alex could simply uproot her life on Earth to live in Argo with Kara. The problem wasn’t so much that she didn’t  _ want  _ to. She had few friends, and her work had always revolved around Kara anyway. But Alex wasn’t sure how she would fare in a world that was so much more advanced, with people who were so  _ different.  _

Kara had managed, but Alex wasn’t so sure that she could.

“Yeah…” Kara said, lowering her eyes to Alex’s shoes.

Before either of them could say another word, the back of the crystal palace opened to reveal Alura in her signature blue dress. Her long, dark hair was perfectly styled, the way Alex was used to seeing it. There was an understated smile on her face, which widened when she spotted Kara and Alex. 

“Greetings,” she said, bowing to Alex before stretching her hand out towards Kara. “Are you two enjoying the day?”

“Of course,” Kara said, accepting her mother’s hand with her own and getting back to her feet. “I was just showing Alex the Flor Vermella.” Kara gestured to the red flowers. “They liked her a lot.”

“They are very gentle,” Alura said, turning her gaze on Alex. “But also very picky.” 

She smiled again, and Alex tentatively smiled back. 

Meeting Kara’s mother in the flesh had been a bit of a shock. Until now, Alex had only ever interacted with her A.I. at the DEO, and it was an entirely different experience to see her in person, especially since Alura In-Ze made for such a formidable authority figure. 

And then there was the fact that Alex had been Kara’s protector for almost fifteen years now, and she wasn’t quite sure how she felt now that Alura was here to take on that role herself. Albeit as a mother figure, but… well. Alex wasn’t always the most rational person when it came to her more complicated emotions. Like how she felt about Kara.

“They’re sweet,” Alex offered, unsure what to do with this lull in conversation. She cleared her throat to bridge the moment. “Would you like me to get out of your hair for a while? Kara mentioned you had a surprise for her. I don’t want to hamper your efforts.”

Kindly, Alura reached out to squeeze Alex’s arm. 

“It’s very kind of you to offer, Alex, but I don’t mind if you stay.” She looked at Kara, who seemed more nervous than before. “I’ve prepared everything in our laboratory, if the two of you would like to join me? I was just coming by to fetch you.”

Her smile looking a little forced, Kara nodded her assent, which prompted Alura to turn her back on them and walk towards the entrance to the palace. As soon as they started walking, Kara reached out and tugged on Alex’s wrist until her hand slid loose from the pocket. Then, she intertwined their fingers and held on tight, as though whatever was waiting for them in the lab couldn’t possibly be anything harmless.

None of that soothed Alex’s own anxiety.

Neither did the fact that the walk from the garden to the lab didn’t take them more than a couple of minutes. She wasn’t sure she’d ever felt Kara’s hand sweat before.

“As soon as you sent me notice about your return, I had the council rush this for me,” Alura said, moving over to one of her many crystal consoles. Before she got to work, she gestured for Alex and Kara to take a seat. “I thought it might be a nice surprise and a way for you to start anew on Argo.”

Kara’s hand tightened in Alex’s, though the pressure was nowhere near as intense as it tended to be on Earth.

“What exactly are you planning, mother?” Kara had a feeling she knew what her mom was up to, but the thought left her feeling a little queasy. Which wasn’t at all helped by the fact that Alex hadn’t even suggested moving to Argo with her, not even as a joke. 

With a smile, Alura slipped the final crystal into place.

“You have grown up on Earth, Kara, so this may be a bit late for you. But I didn’t want to deny you the opportunity to find your perfect match, should they reside in Argo,” Alura revealed, a hologram appearing above the crystal console. “I asked the council for a special authorization, as you are my daughter, and they have allowed for a scan. Just for you.”

Her shoulders stiffening, Kara found her worst fears realized. 

“Mother, really,” she said, her hand holding on as tightly to Alex as she could, without fear of crushing any bones. “The partnering matrix likely will not even work on me. My neural pathways must have changed now that I have been away for so long and under the influence of Earth’s yellow sun.”

At the words  _ partnering matrix, _ Alex felt the blood drain from her face. She did not want to be there when Kara’s perfect Kryptonian partner would be revealed. There would be no way she could hide her own annoyance at the whole affair. 

“I should go,” she murmured, but neither Kara nor Alura seemed to hear her. 

“The matrix will account for any changes and pick the person who is most suited to you. Depending on how high the compatibility prediction is, you could at least give it a chance.” Alura laid her thumb on one of the blue crystals. “There is no pressure here to settle down with someone who is not absolutely perfect for you.”

“Mother,” Kara tried again, though Alura had already started the process. 

“Don’t you think I should go?” Alex said, before Kara sent her a glare.

“Don’t you dare leave me with this,” she whispered furiously, tugging Alex’s hand until it was in her lap so she could wrap her free hand around it, too. “I had a feeling she was going to do something like this. She asked me if I’d merged with any Houses on Earth yet, and then when I told her I hadn’t, she got very excited.”

“The scan of Argo is almost complete,” Alura announced, as the hologram behind her showed symbols that Alex wasn’t quite sure how to read. They were going by so fast, she wasn’t even sure if  _ Kara  _ could read them. 

“If I am going to stay anywhere, I don’t want it to be because of some matchmaking that the matrix has done. Earth does not work like this, mother,” Kara protested, her grip on Alex’s hand actually growing painful despite her depowered state.

“I know, my love, but you are not of Earth,” Alura insisted, turning away from the hologram and coming forward so she could cup Kara’s cheeks. “You are my strong and beautiful daughter, and you deserve the Kryptonian happiness your father and I shared before his passing.” She stroked Kara’s hair out of her forehead. “I want that for you.”

“But what if that’s not what I want?” Kara asked almost breathlessly, like admitting that she and her mother were at odds with one another was causing her physical pain. 

“Sweetheart,” Alura said with aching tenderness, and once again Alex felt like she was intruding on a personal moment. 

Looking away purposefully, her eyes found the hologram again, and what she saw confused her.

“I understand that living on Earth must have been hard on you. Surrounded by primitive technology and primitive customs.” Alura shook her head. “I am grateful to all the humans who helped you, but you do not have to live like them. Not anymore.”

In fact, Alex was so entirely perplexed, that she didn’t even feel offended by Alura’s assessment of her planet. 

“Um,” she said, pointing past Alura. “You guys?”

“I’ve asked you not to call them that,” Kara said, pulling her face away from Alura’s touch. “They are not that different from us.”

Alex pointed more urgently.

“Um,” she tried again, tugging on Kara’s hands but finding it nigh impossible to budge them. 

“I know you’ve come to care for them a great deal, but Kara, we are your people. You are my daughter.” Alura reached out again, though Kara only glared at her a little harder. “You must understand, I only want the very best for you.”

Finally having enough of their ignoring act, Alex pushed herself in between Kara and her mother.

“Is anyone going to notice that the hologram is displaying my face on there?” she demanded, before getting to her feet and finally pulling her hand free from Kara’s grip. “Or am I just meant to ignore that?”

As one, Kara and Alura turned towards the matrix, on which Alex’s face was indeed displayed. It reflected the astonished expression she’d worn when she’d first stepped through the portal and seen Argo for the first time. Somehow, the matrix must have taken a picture of her then, as it likely did of every new person who entered the city.

Several seconds passed before Alura hurried over to the crystal console and started shifting and changing things. Kara seemed stunned, her hands still in her lap as she stared at Alex’s holographic face before it vanished, hidden away by whatever Alura was doing. 

“This seems significant,” Alex whispered to Kara, who finally snapped out of whatever trance she’d fallen into. 

“Mother,” she said again, before getting to her feet as well and taking up residence at Alex’s side. “As you can see, the matrix seems to agree with me that a human would be much better suited to my needs at this stage in my life.” Her words almost caused Alex’s heart to burst straight out of her chest, especially when Kara wrapped her hand around her waist and drew her closer. “No matter how primitive you may think them to be.”

Slowing down her movements, Alura’s shoulder didn’t drop so much as sag a little. 

“Like I said, I only want what’s best for you,” she said, before turning back and offering Kara an apologetic smile. “And if you need to be with a human for this time, then who am I to stand in the way of your bonding?” 

Swallowing thickly, Alex opened her mouth to refute her statement, only for Kara’s foot to step on hers, causing Alex’s lips to clamp shut once more. 

“Yep,” Alex said, nodding perhaps a little too enthusiastically. “Bonding with Kara. That’s me. My lifelong wish.” 

She could almost feel Kara’s eyes rolling in their sockets.

“Thank you for the lovely surprise, mother,” she said, her hand tightening on Alex’s waist. “I’ll go up to my chambers, so I can discuss the results.” Her hand was clearly trying to guide Alex from the room, but Alex didn’t need to be told twice to escape this awkward situation. 

Alura barely had time to give her blessing, before Kara had dragged Alex from the room and into the fancy crystal teleporter that would take them to their floor. They were sharing Kara’s quarters, but now Alex half wished she had her own room to retreat to. 

The quarters led out onto a balcony that oversaw the garden, but at the moment the doors to it were closed, and neither of them seemed to be in the mood to change these circumstances. The walls were made of crystals like every other building in Argo, but the bed looked lush and inviting, and Alex knew just how soft it was. 

“The matrix is broken. It must be broken,” Alex said as soon as they were safely inside the room with the door closed behind them and  _ locked  _ so Alura or one of the cleaning robots couldn’t barge in on their discussion. “I’m the only human in the joint, so of course it picked me. Like you said, you’re hard-wired to fancy us right now.”

Kara picked up a crystal pitcher of clear liquid that Alex knew wasn’t water.

“Do you remember how to read Kryptonian numbers?” Kara asked, pouring some of the liquid into a crystal glass before bringing it to her lips and taking a hearty gulp. 

“Not really,” Alex admitted, lifting one of her shoulders in a shrug. Her heart was still hammering away, and for once she was glad Kara didn’t have her super hearing.

“Did you see the compatibility number?” Kara prodded, setting the empty glass back on the crystal table and scanning Alex’s sweaty face with her ocean-blue eyes. 

“I told you I don’t remember how to read them.” Alex slipped her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket this time, wondering why Kara looked so very intense all of a sudden, why there was a darkness to her expression now that Alex couldn’t remember seeing on her too often. “It can’t have been that high.”

Kara took a step towards her. 

“It was ninety-eight percent,” she said, taking another step. “Guess how high my parents’ compatibility was.”

Unsure whether she could bear to keep looking at Kara, Alex lifted one shoulder in a shrug.

“Ninety-nine?” she guessed, feeling out of her depth. The way Kara was talking was making her feel strange things, and she didn’t really have the time or patience to weed through what exactly they could mean. 

“Seventy-one.” Kara pulled Alex’s hands from her pockets and held them loosely in between them. 

“Oh,” Alex breathed out, her eyes tentatively moving back up to Kara’s. “That, um. That’s odd.”

Kara squeezed her fingers.

“Is it?” she asked, lifting one of her hands up to cup Alex’s cheek. “Do you really think it’s so strange?” She moved in even closer, but Alex’s didn’t know if she wanted her to move away or close the gap between them entirely. “I would die for you. You’re the most important person in my life. If I didn’t have you, I wouldn’t know how to go on.”

“Kara.”

“I would be  _ honored  _ to have you by my side.” She pressed her lips against Alex’s forehead, before taking a respectful step backwards and withdrawing her hands. “I’m not holding you to anything. Just because the matrix thinks we’re a good match… I know it doesn’t work like that on Earth.”

Shaking her head, Alex crossed her arms in front of herself.

“You don’t have to force yourself into a relationship with me just because your partnering matrix says you should,” Alex said, her heart racing faster and faster. Surely, soon this feeling would be the end of her. “Like I said, I’m the only human around here. I’m sure that’s why there was such a high compatibility rate. If we just go back to Earth, you can find someone better for you.”

Kara’s hands were held loosely at her side, but her expression was one of concern.

“Can I ask you something?” Her voice was surprisingly calm, considering she’d just suggested that she and Alex become a romantic item, something they’d never discussed prior to this moment. When Alex nodded, Kara nodded, too. “Do you feel something for me? Anything? And I don’t mean friendship or family.”

How the day had taken this turn, Alex wasn’t sure. Minutes prior, she’d been in the garden and cuddling a big plant. 

How had it come to this?

“I can’t answer that,” she said, gripping her arms tightly. “I’m supposed to protect you. Feelings don’t factor into that equation.”

“Because I feel something for you,” Kara revealed as though Alex had never spoken. “I have for a while. Ever since I almost lost you on that ship. Since before Mon-El left the planet. I hated myself for betraying him like that, and maybe that’s why I stayed with him for as long as I did. I even gave him my mother’s necklace.”

She closed her eyes and rubbed at her temple.

“I was stupid. I should have discussed this with you a long time ago. The matrix didn’t tell me anything new. The question is…” She looked up at Alex again, who had been staring at her through her entire revelation. “Did it tell  _ you  _ something new?”

Swallowing down her fear, Alex took a leap of faith. 

Stepping forward, she cupped Kara’s cheeks and leaned in and up, pulling Kara down into a kiss. Their movements were gentle and slow, and yet it set Alex’s veins on fire to finally be able to do something she’d wanted to do for years. 

Kara’s lips were eminently kissable, and Alex barely registered the feeling of Kara’s hands sliding around her back to draw her in closer. She smelled different here than she did on Earth, but Alex found that she liked it. On Earth, Kara often smelled on wind and freedom, but here the scent was more akin to the earthy ground. Like stability. Home.

“I told your mom, didn’t I?” Alex murmured after they’d pulled away, slightly out of breath and with her eyes still closed. “It’s my lifelong wish.”

Kara laughed.

“I hate you,” she said, before drawing Alex back into a kiss, cutting off her protests. 

**Author's Note:**

> I based this little thing on "Kara takes Alex to Argo City," which was part of the prompts section. This idea kept floating around in my head, so I figured why not? 
> 
> Again, hope you all enjoyed!
> 
> Unbetad, so all mistakes are mine.
> 
> If you want to support me, find me on tumblr @goshdarnitjay


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